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Paul Simon ‘Lost Most of the Hearing’ in Left Ear Making New Music

Paul Simon. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Paul Simon revealed a major roadblock he hit while working on his new music, Seven Psalms. “Quite suddenly, I lost most of the hearing in my left ear,” he told the Times U.K., “and nobody has an explanation for it.” Simon said he felt “frustration and annoyance” at the condition. The hearing loss meant “everything became more difficult” while working on the project, styled as a single seven-movement piece. “I thought it would pass, it would repair itself,” he continued, but it did not. Now, Simon said, he may not be able to perform live anymore. The 81-year-old singer-songwriter’s hearing loss came on top of a difficult bout with COVID-19 that, the Times wrote, “left him physically frail.” “Boy, have I been beaten up in these last couple of years,” he reflected. “But I look good, right?”

Paul Simon Says He ‘Lost Most of the Hearing in My Left Ear’